Flicks of a Wand: HP Ficlets
by paynesgrey
Summary: These are various drabbles I write for specific themes at a contest community on Live Journal. There's angst, romance, and silly stuff most likely. Alternate pairings and canon pairings may show up. High rating for possible adult themes.
1. Estranged Hero

AN: Written for a drabble community on Livejournal. The maximum word count was 500. It won 2nd place for the "Turning Point" theme. This is aone-shot so it won't be continued. Really, don't ask.Thanks for reading!

**The Estranged Hero**

All those years of fighting for his life, it really didn't matter anymore. If Lethargy was a spell, he felt he was now under it. He had lost so much that he feared to ever keep anything anymore.

Darkness was still out there even if Voldemort was dead. But evil lived within everyone.  
Evil also lived within _him._ And he could succumb to this evil someday and hurt them. He could hurt _her._

He stroked her bare arm before absently kissing the top of her head. He reached up and ran his fingers through her bushy hair. He saw her smile and then release a small moan of contentment.

He didn't want any of them to find him. He tried to stay away from them, to protect them from evil – the evil that was now within him.

But last night she gave him everything.

"_I've been so worried about you. You don't seem like yourself."_

Ha! He hadn't been himself for years, not since he 'defeated' his biggest foe only to find out this evil was now a part of himself. That's when everything turned around – when Harry who was once noble and good had succumbed to symbiotic darkness. Then, he had to leave them all. It was the only way he could 'save' them.

But then he had to run into _her._

"_I can be anyone you want me to be, Harry. Just let me take the pain away."_

And she offered herself to him. After all those long years by himself in a life of loneliness, he suddenly had an urge to see everyone again. So he came back despite all the risks.

'I can't be around people knowing what's inside me – knowing 'who's' inside me,' But he gave into weakness anyway.

She nuzzled against his bare chest, spreading butterfly kisses all over him in showers of desperate cohesion. He could tell her energy was rejuvenated again. And he so wanted to stay here and indulge her, but he couldn't. He had to leave before he felt the emotions rise again – before he felt 'him' rise again.

"I have to go. Ron will be back soon, won't he?" He kissed her again.

She nodded, undisturbed that he mentioned her husband. To her, Harry was apart of her just as much as Ron.

"I think you should refrain from mentioning I was here, Hermione."

"Will I see you again?" She asked, watching him as he prepared to leave.

He turned around and quickly kissed her, delving his tongue past her lips and soaking in her heat. She whimpered, trying to respond to him with as much force as he gave her. He broke off quickly, leaving her dazed and hungry for more. She looked into his intense green eyes, finally seeing that they belonged to an entirely different man and not the old Harry that she knew.

"Good-bye." And the man she also loved and looked like Harry but no longer was Harry was gone.

FIN


	2. Crossing Enemy Lines

**Title:** Crossing Enemy Lines  
**Genre:** Humor/Romance  
**Characters/Pairings:** Draco/Ginny  
**Word Count:** 500  
**Rating:** PG-13  
**Warnings:** alternate pairings, some smooching  
**Summary:** Enemies together in detention without the headmaster? Things could get ugly ...or worse, things could get hot! Obviously this takes place before the sixth book.

"NOT a word ..." Draco sneered at her. He was displeased, mainly because he was in trouble and had gotten caught. He was forced into a seat next to Ginny Weasely in Dumbledore's cluttered office waiting to carry out their impromptu detention.

Ginny glared at him. She tried to inch her chair away from him, but couldn't since Dumbledore's office was full with mountains of packages, squeezing them uncomfortably close together.

"Where is that crazy coot?" Malfoy spat impatiently, kicking Dumbledore's desk.

Ginny turned over to him, "Don't call him that! He's not a fruitcake like you!"

"A fruitcake! How dare a muggle lover like you call me that?"

"Oh stuff it! Where do you get off, prat? How dare you try to hex me! I didn't do anything to you!" She fumed.

"Oh yes you did, you were _born,_ you measly Weasley. You should be honored to be hexed by me." He lifted his chin into the air.

"Why you!" She couldn't control her temper any longer and threw a punch at him. He barely dodged it, and he grabbed her arm. Then, she lost her balance, tumbling onto him. He yelped when her knee jabbed into something sacred. He tried to reposition himself, but she just pounded at him. The rickety old chair gave way, and they toppled onto the floor. They both bellowed in curses. Boxes around the chairs tumbled over them creating a huge dusty mess.

"You stupid wench, get off!" he yelled, and then she gave him a hearty slug.

"You get your dirty leg off me, you filthy pervert!" she said squirming to regain her balance.

"Who's a pervert? I wouldn't touch you with a ten foot wand!"

"Yeah? Maybe you don't like _girls!_ Maybe you like after class sessions with Professor Snape!" She desperately tried freeing her leg from underneath him, and their disjointed squirming got them even more tangled. Plus it didn't help that they kept whacking at each other.

"Why you! I'll prove to you I like girls!" With all her squirming on top of him and all the banter, he was starting to feel pretty heated.

"Oh yeah?"

"Yeah!" And he didn't know what possessed him, but he bent upward and kissed her. She froze in shock. With his moist frenetic tongue over hers, she inwardly wondered why she wasn't disgusted.

So she kissed him back, straddling over him. He met her force with challenging power of his own and arched himself upward, continuing to dominate her mouth.

"Ahem ..." A voice interrupted them, and they finally came back to earth.

"I see while I was gone you two have settled your differences."

Ginny flushed. Draco paled. They couldn't have been more embarrassed. They were really put out when Dumbledore turned around and proceeded to leave them again. "Carry on."

Ginny was almost ready to cry. Draco felt as though he betrayed his country. He pointed his digit at her as she slowly moved off of him. He sneered, "Not. A. Word."

FIN


	3. A Sense of Dread

**Notes: Winner of First Place of the "Phobia" challenge at hpficcontest on Livejournal

* * *

**

**Sense of Dread  
**  
When she heard hoots in the night, her lips would automatically shiver.

She closed her opaque blinds every night to block the moonlight from entering her house. To her, her closed little house on Privet Drive was her haven, her sanctuary from the outside world that wasn't what it seemed.

Outside scary things crawled and crept down their street, attracted to their house. She could sense the darkness. A small boy of the unwanted part of her blood slept innocently upstairs. Did he really know the danger he put them in? Did he really know the danger he was in himself?

She did.

She felt it every day, and it seemed like a long bony hand had reached out and put a silent grip around her throat, waiting and biding time to take them all. She dreamt of chilling pain and her sister screaming, and she would wake up in quivers.

Her husband didn't notice her dread, and she preferred it that way. She ignored it, trying to shove it into the shadows of her mind.

Then she rested comfortably with all her fears behind thick curtains that imprisoned her from the truth of the wicked world.

FIN


	4. Hold Me

**Title:** Hold Me  
**Theme:** Open  
**Word Count:** 350  
**Genre:** Angst/Drama  
**Characters/Pairings:** Sirius/Remus  
**Rating:** PG-13  
**Warnings:** Slash themes  
**Summary:** He couldn't handle it. It frightened him, and being in his arms like this was the only thing that made him feel safe. But he knew the truth that it would not last forever.

He was shaking again, terrified of the moonlight blanketing them through the window. It was no longer full like last night, but it still hung as a poisonous reminder in the sky.

He inhaled a ragged breath, and Sirius held him tighter. He was so cold, so desperate for comfort from someone else, a savior from all his fears – from himself.

Sirius shushed him soothingly, wiping back strands of hair hiding his eyes. He suddenly flinched, then relaxed sighing and snuggling closer. 

And he never once made motion to let go.

"Remus…" Sirius sighed in a tone of exasperation. "It will be alright. You needn't cling like I'm going to leave. You'll get through this."

Sirius felt Remus shake his head furiously. He choked out, "N—no, you don't know how terrible it was – how terrible _I_ was. I can't keep doing this. I feel like I'm going to break." Remus breathed and sobbed, nuzzling his head into the crook of Sirius's arm. Sirius bent down and kissed his forehead intimately.

"Face your fears, Remus. You need to focus. You can do this." His voice was confident and moving, and Remus almost believed him. "Someday you won't need this. You won't need me."

"There's no way I could get through this without you." Remus cried. He craned his neck and looked up at Sirius. "You can't go."

"I won't go. But I can't guarantee I'll be here forever." Sirius replied realistically.

"Will you be here tomorrow? The day after tomorrow?" Remus asked troubled, searching Sirius's face for a sign of hope.

"I don't know." Sirius said, but he smiled at Remus and put his finger under his chin, lifting his head up to face him. "But I'm here right now, aren't I?"

Remus's face softened and he nodded. He bent his head down, resting it over Sirius's chest. He needed Sirius for this pain he felt from this horror he had to live with everyday.

But he hated the foreboding fact that Sirius would not always be with him.

He clutched Sirius's body closer. 'But at least... he's here now.'


	5. Burning Sin

**Theme: The Weasleys

* * *

****Burning Sin**

Ginevra Weasley looked down at the stark new headstones in front of her. Her face pale, she had given up crying because her tears were gone – her pain numbed.

Determined eyes stared at the names of the tombstones, and she felt a wave of nausea hit her stomach. Her knees wobbled, and she felt herself collapsing.

_Did I make the right decision?_

She couldn't have because they were all gone, all of them – even ones that weren't a part of her blood.

She unexpectedly hiccupped and shook her head.

But I love him … 

She sighed in almost a whine, and then she felt the pain on her forearms, and she winced. She chirped in agony, and then fell in front the graves on her knees. The burning, the pinching, was too unbearable – and it branded her a traitor, a deserter to her parents' cause.

But she _loved_ him.

Then, seeing her in pain, he rushed to her side, and picked her from the ground. She let out a yowl of pain, as he held her against his rigid chest.

"Ginny, Ginny, it's done now. It's over," Draco said, whispering in the side of her ear. She nodded, watching the animated tattoos on her forearms wriggle restlessly under her skin. She turned her head and looked up at him. His gray eyes met hers, and inside them she became trapped in a crystalline prison. He didn't smile or smirk, just looked at her with the same dark look that he had retained from his father.

"It's time to go," he commanded, and the smooth, bleakness of his voice made her shiver – making her remember nights of their lovemaking when he held that same tone.

With one last look at her family's headstones, of her brothers and parents, and even of her sister-in-law Hermione, she sucked in the stale morning air and gripped Draco's hand.

The Dark Mark continued to burn on her forearm, a biting reminder of her sin. No, she couldn't go back now.


	6. Scowl

**Theme: Memory**

* * *

**Scowl**

At Ron's left, Hermione's hand began shaking in his. She looked at him and saw his frown, and then turned her head and looked forward as the others strode ahead of them.

This was it.

The last Horcrux was _here_, and likely so was Lord Voldemort.

It was time to make their stand.

Harry and Ginny moved forward first, with determination and vigor that many could only envy.

Neville was behind them, a look on his face to prove he was as good as his parents, to prove he was really a brave Gryffindor. Luna was beside him, marching with a calm strength that slightly pacified the thick, unsettling air.

She squeezed the hand in hers, and thought of Ron. She was scared for all of them, but mostly for him – mostly for _them_.

She felt silly that she should even waste a second remembering her boyfriend before the battle, the boy that was more than a precious friend.

He looked the same, but somehow he seemed very different. Ron Weasley rarely smiled, and he mostly frowned. Hermione knew him as one to always scowl and look at the worst of ever situation. His pessimistic attitude has always irked her, yet strangely attracted her somehow.

'He needs me to reshape his scowl,' she once thought, and believed it even now.

But now the scowl was different. Ron was afraid, and deep inside he probably didn't believe they'd come out of this alive. She could only wonder that maybe he scowled so worriedly because he feared that she wouldn't come out alive either, that in the end, they might be apart.

But he scowled, just as Ron Weasley always did, and Hermione was supposed to be there to reshape it.

She looked ahead to the foreboding nexus, the place where their fate would lie. No, if this was the last time she was with him, she didn't want her last memory of him to be with a scowl.

So she stopped, and pulled him back. The others were too focused, and they continued to march ahead unknowingly.

Ron looked at her curiously, "Hermione?"

Then, she smiled, weakly at first but then she thought of how wonderful it felt when he first kissed her, and her smile soon became stronger.

"We'll do this, right?" And suddenly she needed reassurance, when she was supposed to be the one reassuring him.

Soon, she saw a muscle twitch on his face, and he looked at her with hopeful blue eyes and a sneaking lopsided grin.

"Of course," he said, and he quickly pulled her toward him, kissing her nose quickly and then looking into her eyes. She smiled back at him, holding back tears of fear and joy.

Then, he pulled her forward, and she sighed. There was still this horrible shadow looming over her, but somehow she felt relieved. Hermione felt relieved that if it were her last memory, it would be of Ron – and this time, _without_ the scowl.


	7. Anniversary, of Sorts

**Theme: Joke  
Winner of first place at hpficcontest on LJ**

* * *

**Anniversary, of Sorts**

Hermione did not appreciate her gift.

She snorted, and stuck her nose into the air. She heard Ron snigger behind her. Harry proceeded to look away, but carried a lazy grin on his face.

"So ... you expect me to laugh and smile at this?" Hermione huffed. Ron laughed out loud, and then shrugged his shoulders. He looked down at the gift approvingly. It was a good idea, and he was quite proud of it. Most girls would think it was funny, knowing it came from him. He was a Weasley after all, and his humor was second to his infamous brothers, if not just as respected.

"Come on, Hermione," he came over to her and embraced her from behind. Harry looked over at them, noticed Ron's affection, and then rolled his eyes. He only hoped this joke would not land Ron in the doghouse again. His friends were cute together, but sometimes they were so bloody thick he couldn't believe they'd been together this long.

Ron gave Hermione an affectionate squeeze around her waist. He rested his chin on her shoulder and rubbed his cheek to hers. "It's only meant to be fun. It's sort of an anniversary, you know, for the time you unleashed all you jealous rage onto me. I'm just giving you this because it was around the time I started to realize how I really felt about you." He gave her a sly grin.

Hermione rolled her eyes. "Anniversary? Yes, a _sarcastic_ anniversary, no doubt." She was about to say something else, something really nasty, but when she looked at him, she saw him make a puppy face at her and refrained. She sighed heavily. Well, there was no way she could say something mean after he made a cute face like that!

"_Honestly_, Ronald," she quipped, looking away from his face and blushing. Ron always seemed quite frisky when she said his name like that, and Harry caught Ron give her bottom a squeeze. She pursed her lips in mild embarrassment. Continuing to glare at the offensive present, she finally sighed and then picked up the cage looking inside.

"So, what are you going to name him?" Ron asked.

Hermione pouted as she inspected the gag gift. The 'present' inside cocked its head at her, staring back.

"Um…how about Won-Won?" Hermione smirked. She felt Ron's hold on her slack. He appeared slightly insulted. Hermione looked away, exceedingly satisfied with his reaction. "Yes, I like that. Don't you, Won-Won?"

Her new pet canary chirped in agreement.


	8. Will You?

**Dance Theme - Remus/Sirus**

* * *

**Will you?**

Sirius observed the dance crowd with a bored look while Remus leaned against the wall and watched the energetic school ball silently beside him.

James had charmed Lily onto the dance floor, and even Peter had been asked to dance by some pudgy Hufflepuff girl. But for Sirius, his moody disposition had scared off his potential dance partners, even though he was handsome enough to have rows of girls after him.

"Come on, then, Padfoot, why don't you go dance instead of telling every girl to piss off?" Remus nudged.

"I've made up my mind, Moony. I don't want to dance with any of these ninnies." He leaned against the wall rubbing shoulders with Remus. "Dances are so boring."

Remus chuckled lightly beside him, turning his gaze back to the dance floor. He wasn't at all surprised no one asked him to dance. Either Remus scared the girls or they felt he was too poor and pathetic. Sirius knew this and stayed by him anyway, despite turning down many girls in the process.

"Padfoot ..." Remus said sternly, as another Slytherin girl started to come over, giving Sirius a smarmy look.

Then suddenly Sirius grabbed Remus's arm and led him toward the dance floor.

"Moony, come dance with me," Sirius urged, and Remus looked at him dumbfounded and slightly embarrassed.

"Wha --? But I'm a boy, Padfoot. You can't take another boy out to the dance floor!" Remus flustered.

"Rubbish. Who says that?"

"But Sirius, what will everyone think? What will they _say_?"

"Who bloody cares? If anything, the look on their faces will be worth it!" He pushed Remus past the stunned Slytherin girl and settled onto the dance floor. Sirius gave him a Cheshire grin. He cocked an eyebrow at him, and he felt Remus tremble in his arms. "I'll lead, Moony."

Remus nodded, and as soon as he was swept up in Sirius's arms they heard gasps from the crowd. Several of the teachers shook their heads certain it was another joke. Some people snickered and whistled at them. In the corner of his eye, Remus saw several girls blush and watch them intently, and he inwardly groaned at all the things they could be fantasizing about.

"Don't worry about them," Sirius said with a jubilant smirk on his face. He looked over at James who winked at him with a smiling Lily. Remus then met Sirius's eyes, and the background started to blur. "Just dance, Moony."

And suddenly, what others thought didn't matter anymore. He didn't care if it was a ploy for Sirius to get away from the girls. All in all, Remus could hope that Sirius did it because he cared, that he saw that Remus was lonely at not being asked to dance.

Remus returned Sirius's grin, and they stopped for a moment. "Will you dip me, Padfoot?"

Sirius bent down close to his ear and whispered in a smooth tone. "I most certainly will."


	9. Perverts Pay the Price

**Perverts Pay the Price**

The color on Harry's face could rival the Weasley's hair. He glared at Fred and George, who were laughing at his expense. He just wished he had a big bag to cover his head from the embarrassment.

He couldn't believe what just had happened to him!

"You said it was Ginny in that pond," Harry muttered angrily, which only seemed to fuel Fred and George's loud guffaws.

Fred replied, "No… we said –"

" -- we thought it was Ginny down there. I mean, she did tell us that she was hot and wanted to go for a swim," George finished.

"She's gone down to that secluded pond before with Hermione and Luna. We only thought that's where she went," Fred countered.

"You're bloody liars! You knew EXACTLY who was down there," Harry said, pointing a finger.

"We didn't." Fred shrugged innocently.

"Yeah, and we never thought you were so perverted that you'd go sneak a look at our sister skinny-dipping on an unusually hot day at school," George replied, giving Harry a scrutinizing look. Even with a joker like George, Harry felt guilty for his indiscretion.

"So who cares who was really down there anyway," Fred said, shrugging nonchalantly. He paused and then leaned into Harry to whisper. "So, who really _was_ down there skinny dipping in that old enchanted pond near the Forbidden Forest?"

"Yeah, you can tell us." George grinned, nudging Harry in the ribs.

Harry blanched. There was no way in hell he would tell George and Fred who he really saw. He'd never live it down.

"Never you mind," he said, pushing past them. Harry seemed on the verge of another emotional temper tantrum. "I'm going to my room!"

And as he sauntered off, he heard Fred and George talk about his dilemma amongst themselves.

"Wow, it must have been really scary," Fred surmised. George nodded beside his brother. Their grins showed very clearly that they knew exactly who Harry had seen at the pond, expecting to catch a little glance of Ginny instead.

Harry was sure they knew, but he would never admit to it. He would never admit in words aloud that instead of finding Ginny at that pond, he had caught a glance of the Divination instructor instead!


	10. Three as One

**Theme - Secret  
Pairings: Hermione/Ron/Harry**

* * *

**Three as One**

"I'm here, Harry, I'm here," Hermione whispered to him as he slept, contorting viciously within his bed sheets from his constant nightmares. She had found him suffering like this late that night when she walked down the halls of Sirius's house, their haven while they searched for the remaining Horcruxes.

"I wish there was something I could do," she whispered again. She hated to see him in pain, and she worried about him every day. If there was some way she could comfort him, maybe wrap her arms around him and never let go, she would try to take all the pain and worry away from him. Though, she doubted he would take it from her. Harry preferred to do things alone – to bear all burdens by himself. He did that so his friends wouldn't be hurt or killed during his battle with Voldemort.

But it was too late now, and they were already in the game from the beginning. Harry had tried to spare Ginny and left her out, but he needed Ron and Hermione. They were his _lifeblood_ – the force that kept him pure.

And Hermione knew this – she knew it from the beginning. And despite it all, she wanted to stay with him to comfort and support him. Secretly, she'd support him anyway he wanted – any way at all. Though she was uncertain whether or not Harry felt the same way about her.

He moved again, twisting in his sheets and gritting his teeth. She sat down beside him and leaned next to him in his bed. She watched him protectively, and she put her hand on his. Even in his dreams she hoped she could aide him from the waking world – even if he never knew.

"Hermione?" Ron asked softly, as he came into the room where Hermione was lying next to Harry, who was now sobbing in his sleep.

She looked up into Ron's eyes in desperation and worry. Ron understood what she was doing. There was no way he could be jealous for how Hermione felt for Harry. He understood all too well.

Slowly, he walked over to them to lie down on the other side of Harry in the bed. He put his hand over Hermione's whose hand was still over Harry's.

Yes, he understood completely. With the way Hermione felt so deeply about Harry, he felt the same way too. Harry needed Ron and Hermione, Hermione needed Harry and Ron, and Ron needed them both as well. Together, Hermione and Ron reached over and kissed the top of Harry's head. His restlessness had then ceased, and with their comforting presence they felt Harry finally relax next to them – finding safe refuge with three as one.

Thus in hindsight, it soon became unfair and wrong if the three of them weren't together. Secretly, they fortified this melding trinity – a bond to have and keep each other in a way that few would understand.


	11. Song of Perfection

**Song of Perfection**

When he was small, music would filter through the halls of the mansion and caress his ears with its sweet, flowing notes. He would close his eyes and let it wash over him, and he would feel the pride and precision of the score, reminding him of who he was and _what_ he was.

His family was pure, just like the handling of the notes from his mother's finger tips.

His family was beautiful, with hauntingly glass features and prideful poise just like the endless sonata filtering his home.

And in that purity, he felt proud and most of all _safe_, that nothing or no one could touch them – that they'd be like this forever. And when his parents' time was over, his children would carry on that great purity, that wholesome magical perfection.

All he needed was to hear that graceful music pouring from his mother's heart, signifying her elegant talent – then he knew he had nothing to fear. Everything would be fine.

But young Draco never knew that with his father's nobility and pride seeped in darkness, something so terrible it feigned greatness and only produced hatred and fear.

With such taint, older Draco learned that everything he was ever taught and raised to believe in was not perfect – and was not invulnerable to failure and terror.

And the last time he walked the halls of that once magnificent mansion, the rubble and ominous air had siphoned his once youthful ease. In his now broken home, he surveyed the destruction from a war he would have never perceived to have happen when he was young. Draco would have never known as a young boy that he'd be walking the halls of his abandoned home, very much a casualty of war just like his poised, talented mother.

Sadness overwhelmed him, and when he closed his eyes to feel the comfort of the music of his memories, silence bit harshly into the charred air. Then, he could no longer hear that comfortable music of purity and grace.


	12. Knowing When to Change

**Ginny/Luna drabble

* * *

****Knowing When to Change**

With a clenched fist, Ginny watched as Harry trailed off with Hermione and Ron just after her brother's wedding

She should've expected it; Harry only needed Ron and Hermione, and he had already carefully set her aside. He tried to be noble – as if refusing her was going to _protect_ her.

It was Harry's life, and she had no say in it. She was just his girl of the year to snog. She wished there was more to it, but she knew things had changed.

"It's a shame, isn't it?" Luna said behind her, breaking her out of her reverie.

"Shame?" Ginny quipped, grabbing her glass and gulping her drink. She smacked her lips rudely and glared at Harry's back.

"About you and Harry."

"Luna, what do you think?" Ginny sighed. She turned and met Luna's dotty gaze. "Besides, didn't you like Harry? Well, he's free now, if you're interested." Ginny took another sloppy gulp. The enchanted champagne from the wedding was starting to make her dizzy. She wanted to get up, but Luna sat down and rested her head on Ginny's shoulder.

"Oh, I like Harry, but not in the way you do." She giggled loudly and unexpectedly. "One time I rather thought he felt obligated to kiss me under mistletoe. He looked positively horrified."

Ginny smiled. "He didn't, right?"

"Oh no," Luna confirmed. She started tracing her fingers over a sequined design on Ginny's dress. Ginny felt the motion relaxing as Luna traced circles over the material against her arm. Slowly, she felt Luna's fingers trail up and brush through her tresses. Ginny moaned contently as Luna's touches became soothing – making her skin long for rhythmic touch.

"Are you sad?" Luna said, massaging the base of Ginny's skull.

"No, I was actually more angry than hurt. I guess I saw it coming. I mean, when I first met him, he seemed like this impossible dream." She laughed. "I guess he is after all."

Ginny smiled hopefully. "I wish I would have listened to people when they told me to give him up." Ginny rested her head on the table and groaned as the alcohol hit her.

"I guess that means you have to grow up now," Luna said, poking Ginny's head playfully. Ginny snorted with a laugh.

"I guess so!" Ginny burped surprisingly, causing them to roar with laughter.

Moving into another pensive moment, Luna rested her head over Ginny's back and rubbed her shoulders. "Hey, let's go somewhere."

"Where?"

"Anywhere but here – alone." She sat up and stared at the back of Ginny's head, waiting for a response. "We could go to your room, and I could dye your toenails! I have a special polish that will make gnomes lick your toes!"

Ginny laughed again, and Luna stood up and took her hand. "Alright, this place is boring anyway."

Luna smiled widely, and bent down and kissed the top of Ginny's hand affectionately.

"Ginny Weasley, it's time for you to change and forget all about Harry Potter!"


	13. If There Was No Magic

**Pairing:** Hermione/Harry  
**Theme:** Magic

**If There Was No Magic  
**

At first there had been no magic – hardly a spark, but as they got older – as peaceful times turned to boredom, things did not always stay the same as they _should._

"I'm sorry," he clutched her head softly to his chest.

But Hermione thought he really had nothing to apologize for. "We can't stay kids forever." From her tongue encased in words, youth began to dry away and they were _here_ – in a time meant for serious lovers leaving childhood awkwardness behind.

Here, in Harry's arms, everything was real – and yet guiltily, he shared her feelings.

"But I'm sorry it had to end between you two – I feel responsible." Even as an adult Harry was always taking the burden of others, having it become his own when it was not.

"Nothing really ended," assured Hermione, snuggling closer to him. Residual warmth from recent activities radiated on her fingers without even touching him. "We're still the same – only a few things have changed." She looked into his eyes with a serious expression, adamant for him to understand. "Ron and I are _still_ friends."

Harry looked away, feeling that this situation should be tense - that he and Ron should be fighting and that the whole world would feel the disruption as he 'took' Hermione away. And although he seemed to think the situation was worse than it was – Hermione had willingly come to be with him, causing the end result to be quite anticlimactic. They were older, more mature – and something like this really didn't fray nerves that many would expect.

All three of them had been too close for such pettiness anyway.

Hermione tore herself from his arms and stood in front of him, the sunlight through his bedroom window making her body appear warm and glowing without any spells or incantations.

"Listen, stop beating yourself up over this, Harry. It didn't end badly... it _really _didn't." He saw her frown with a faraway look her eyes – a look that turned from regret to resolution. "In the end, there just wasn't any more magic."

Harry pouted, seemingly unconvinced. "I don't understand. If you can't feel that with Ron, what makes you think you can feel that with me?"

Hermione smiled. This time, she was glowing without sunlight. With the assuredness in her voice and the delicacy of her touch, his worries began to dissolve away.

"Harry, you _are_ magic."


	14. Riding at Sunrise

**Riding at Sunrise**

Sunrises meant different things to different people. Some slept past it; others would wake up just to be part of that moment where everything comes alive again.

For Ginny Weasley, sunrises were personal. For every sunrise she was out of bed and ready – for he would have her at no other time.

Standing in front of the towering door, Ginny sighed – falling once again into this addictive routine.

"Come in, Ms. Weasley," drawled her professor – her lover, knowing she was there without knocking.

Where the other students were innocent, Ginny was not. They would sleep, but she would ride instead.


	15. Luna of the Fae

**Luna of the Fae**

Harry wished he could see the world the way Luna did.

"Can you see it?" Her voice was just above a whisper, the thrill in her voice made his blood rise – his body warming to her husky tone.

Harry looked ahead where Luna was looking. They were alone, stepping out into the cold night as people from Bill's wedding reception continued to party, congested and tightly wound in family togetherness. Inadequacy and gloom still lingered in his head from Dumbledore's death, his fate, and his dissolved relationship with Ginny.

He needed some peace, and peace was before them in the form of a sunset – a mesh of otherworldly tertiary hues of red, yellow and blue.

"My mother said that at this time of the day, the Fae cross over from their world to ours, so they can enjoy themselves in the cover of our nightfall – creating festivals and enjoying a small bit in a world that once was only theirs." Harry looked at her dreamy eyes and they seemed entranced. The strange girl, a girl he felt understood him more than any other girl, seemed like she was under a spell. The ways she thought, moved, and watched the things of the world made Harry believe that Luna could be of the Fae herself.

"And when they cross, you can see their faerie dust mix the colors of the sunset. There are so many of them, with spirits of different shades and color, and the gathering of the lot of them creates the painted sunset."

Luna sighed, and Harry didn't know what was more beautiful – Luna's story or the way she wholeheartedly believed it.


	16. On His Own

**On His Own  
**

Remus knew that there was quite a bit of danger involved in a young werewolf going on alone. He felt his parents' worries were justified as he began to set off through the platform of nine and three quarters. As other Hogwarts students bustled around him eager to be free from their parents for the school year, Remus Lupin felt he was the most nervous of them all.

He felt light-headed; sick even, that he was even out of the house! He wished he could be confident enough that he could keep his beast under control, despite the reassurances from the Headmaster that everything would be all right.

Suddenly, as he was about to give his parents one more mournful glance, a shadow towered over him prompting him to look up.

"Say lad, ye mus' be Remus Lupin." Remus looked up into the rosy face of the gigantic man grinning down at him.

"Yes, sir," he stuttered, face paling at the intimidating sight of the man.

"Well, good," the man responded sighing, almost relieved. "Well…now that I got yer both here, I s'pect we best be goin.' Dumbledore says I oughts to take care of you two."

Remus Lupin blinked, and realized that someone else was there with them. Behind him he saw a black-haired boy with a mischievous glint in his eye and a bored look on his face. When he met Remus's eyes, his expression seemed to change.

Seeing that Remus was terrified, the black-haired boy extended his hand cordially. "I'm Sirius Black, and don't worry about ole Hagrid here." Sirius smirked and knelt down to Remus's ear, making him shiver with his whisper. "He's harmless as a puppy."

And suddenly Remus didn't feel so scared anymore. Even though he was on his own, Sirius's immediate friendly disposition was enough to give him even a little courage.

Smiling in return, he shook Sirius's hand, reveling in the warm physical touch.

Yes, going to Hogwarts might not be a bad thing for him after all, and he was certain that he'd be all right on his own.


	17. Those Independant Boys

Pairing: Draco/Ginny

**Those Independent Boys**

"Things used to be good, but…" Ginny said, caressing her fingers over his chest as she rested upon it.

She scowled and looked deeply into gray eyes. He didn't even care she was talking about someone else. She didn't know why, but she wanted him to be jealous – but she hardly felt it was possible.

"Why do you boys have to be so independent? Why can't you just rely on a woman?"

The question faded, and her fire was muzzled by the seductive smile on his face.

Even if she _was_ in the enemy's arms, at least she felt included.


	18. A Hero's Smile

Pairing: Harry/Hermione

**A Hero's Smile**

Dawn broke her slumber, and Hermione found herself in the arms of a man – a man that was not her husband but a man she knew well.

Nausea, guilt, and wonder surged through her body. She had always wondered – yet she had never been bold enough to get this far.

It's not how things are _supposed_ to be.

And yet, that really didn't matter. Conventional, traditional and ethical were all words people often used to describe her. It was a good thing, although sometimes she felt as though it wasn't so good – that it was binding and suffocating.

She just wanted to be free, to be free from it all.

The man that she had spent the night with – the man that had freed her from a boring marriage and a mundane life – was sleeping peacefully beside her. His unkempt black hair was a deep contrast against the pristine white pillows. His peaceful smile was uncontrolled, unrestrained and unusual – this was Harry after all.

And then, observing him, she didn't feel so guilty anymore. It was rare to see him like this when he had led such a debilitating life, endlessly scarred from a derring-do fate.

Despite it all, here and now, he was smiling. She had made him smile like that, no matter how wrong the situation was.

Even though Harry was not her husband, he was, at least, her hero – and he always would be.


	19. Undefined Magic

Inuyasha/Harry Potter Xover Drabble

**Undefined Magic**

Draco scoffed.

He was used to his father collecting strange magical artifacts, but he couldn't figure out what interested the man so much about acquiring an abandoned shrine in Japan.

"It's a dump," he said bluntly, but his father continued to smirk, rolling his eyes at his son's obvious denseness.

"You need to see beneath the surface, dear boy," his father sashayed over the shrine's cracked foundation and settled his staff roughly into a pile of debris. Looking around them, Draco noticed they were standing in front of an old well house, now demolished and piling up in rubble.

"See? Don't you feel the magic here Draco? There's something here that not even the wizarding world knows about." There was determination in his eyes, and his father no doubt planned to benefit from whatever unknown power was here.

"They say the family here mysteriously disappeared, and then days later the place caught fired and burned to the ground. Something exploded here …" His father continued to talk about the history of the place as he roamed around the property looking for anything else that could benefit him.

But Draco wasn't listening. Instead, he stared at the only thing that was not destroyed in the blast on the property.

The well.

Still encased in a well-constructed frame, Draco was drawn to it. He crept, slowly and cautiously, to the edge of it with a sense of foreboding radiating from its center.

Seeing a flash of blue, he inched closer – more curious to the fact that his father could be right, that there was some undefined magic here. And when he got to the edge of the well, he looked down and saw a rush of deep bright blue – invisible tendrils tugging him close.

Then, the well had swallowed him – hugging him into a cobalt blur.


	20. The White Dress

**The White Dress**

Gazing into a full length mirror, Ginny's fiery eyes trailed down the length of her reflection and over the fine fabric and pale white material of her dress.

It started today.

She couldn't remember the last time when people were allowed to be happy like this, to breathe with resolve that they would have a chance to live tomorrow.

Her face lit up, a smile tugging at her lips and a sly movement wrinkling her nose. No one ever believed her it would come to this. No one ever believed _Draco_ could _ever_ be good.

_He_ had helped them destroy the Dark Lord and was one of the most loyal of them all. And even after all their losses in the war; they could enjoy a day like today.

She gazed at her reflection once more. Right now she was just plain old Ms. Ginny Weasley, but after tonight, she would be Mrs. Ginny Malfoy.

And with their wedding, the war was tucked away in the shadows of their minds, right where they wanted them to be. After everything they had fought for and everything they had lost, their union would become the dawn of a new stretch of peace.

She smiled to herself knowingly, her eyes gazing over her white dress again. It was the symbol of the day; that shining thing that crawled from debris and was triumphant in an endless war – a pristine serenity that was born anew.

And it began with _them._


	21. Inheritance

**Theme: **Childhood  
**Word Count:** 224  
**Characters:** Hermione, Mr. Granger  
**Notes:** NO spoilers.  
**Summary:** Hermione receives one of her greatest gifts.

* * *

Inheritance

Tears were soon replaced by smiles as Hermione slid her small, youthful fingers over the cover and binding of her newly inherited book.

"Wow, is this really mine now?" Her father nodded, his light expression reassuring her saddened heart. Young Hermione looked down at the book in her hands, radiating with memories of her late grandmother. She smiled, her belly filling up with happiness as she remembered how her grandmother used to read her stories from this book. Opening the book to the first page, Hermione sniffed lightly as she could smell her grandmother's scent within the pages.

She turned to her father who was watching her with great interest, proud that his daughter cherished such a treasure.

"Daddy, would you read it to me?" Hermione asked. Her father nodded, and he lightly took the book from her grasp. Hermione moved to sit next to him, snuggling against his shoulder.

"Soon, pumpkin, you'll be able to read this on your own," he said, and Hermione nodded next to him.

Jubilantly, she replied, "I know, Daddy, but for now, I think Grandma wants you to read it."

He nodded. He took in a deep breath and read title page with a shining eyes. "The Once and Future King, by T.H. White." Soon, Hermione gazed into space, her content smile beaming brighter.


	22. The Prisoner

AN: Written for the "escape" theme at fanfic_bakeoff. Characters: Draco & Luna. Word Count Limit: 300. Takes place during the "Deathly Hallows".

The Prisoner

Draco wasn't supposed to come to the dungeons. He was ordered specifically by his father that the Dark Lord would torture him if he disobeyed.

Draco scoffed. He sometimes thought that torturing was better than living right now. He blamed himself, and he regretted many decisions.

Mostly he was ashamed, but he turned such feelings into courage to visit their prisoners and face his shame.

The others were asleep, but he noticed the wide, curious eyes of Luna Lovegood from the dark, once a fellow student and now a prisoner in his home. He shuddered from the sick thought, and out of all the emotions he dared not feel, compassion was the one that came through the strongest.

Draco avoided her eyes as he set the food in front of her. He felt her stare as hard as the bitter cold of his family's dungeon, but he did not openly acknowledge her. She crawled out from the shadows and watched him curiously before taking the food.

"Thank you," she said graciously. After all the terrible things they had done to her, Draco was awed that she still managed to be polite.

Draco grunted, quickly turning away as the air became more awkward between them. When he was partially up the stairs he heard her soft, ethereal voice again, like a siren's song that beckoned him to come closer and to stay with her through this ordeal. He didn't know how she did it – it wasn't some rudimentary spell without a wand, and he'd never been in her presence long enough to feel anything from her.

"You're not a monster, Draco," she said, and as he tried to resist her melodious voice, he couldn't escape the gravity of her words.

Despite Luna's encouraging observation, Draco felt it impossible to believe her.


End file.
